Wellness and jeep adventure in Acqui Terme

A weekend of wellness at the spa, enjoying relaxation as the ancient Romans knew how to do, or an adrenaline-filled weekend of adventure at the wheel of a real American jeep, in perfect harmony with the myths of our time? Both, naturally! Our trip to Acqui Terme, a famous spa town of the Alto Monferrato, was in fact a pleasant mix of wellness treatments, fun motoring adventure and exquisite typical cuisine based on the excellent food and wine offering of the area. We drove the very panoramic Turchino road, which leads from Ovada to Acqui Terme through a breathtaking landscape, and the idea of soon racing among the beautiful hills we could see around us, driving a real American jeep, excited us quite a lot.

We arrived in Acqui Terme on Saturday morning, and after settling in at the Hotel Pineta, we went for a walk in the town, and then abandoned ourselves to the pleasures of the spa pampering. From our hotel, which, as its name says, is set in a pine wood, but despite this remains very close to the centre of Acqui, we reached the remains of the Roman Aqueduct, one of the symbol monuments of the city. Fifteen pillars and four gigantic arches remind the people of Acqui of their glorious spa tradition, thanks to which the city managed to survive even the darkest times of the Early Middle Ages. The spa springs of Acqui Terme enjoyed considerable prestige already in Roman times; indeed the Latin writer Pliny the Elder recalls them among the most important of the Roman world.

After the aqueduct we went to see the water: that of the Bollente, the most famous monument of the city: it is a splendid marble aedicule built in 1879 by the architect Giovanni Cerutti, inside which the boiling and curative water gushes out: 560 litres per minute at 74.5 degrees, of a sulphurous-saline-bromo-iodic water. Our day continued in close contact with this regenerating reality of Acqui: we treated ourselves to a series of pamperings in the wellness centre a stone's throw from the Hotel Pineta, without missing anything: sauna, bio-sauna, Turkish bath, emotional showers, a pool with thermal water at 35 degrees, but also a fitness centre with a cardio-toning gym. After this day we felt as if reborn, perfectly regenerated in body and relaxed in mind: we were ready for the pleasures of good food, as well as for the great motoring adventure of the following day.

We went down to the hotel restaurant quite hungry, and knowing that car drivers need a lot of energy, we wisely decided not to hold back in front of the goodies that would be served to us. We started with a buffet of vegetables and appetisers, followed by the unmissable agnolotti alla piemontese. Our friends, on the other hand, had the tagliatelle with Barbera, after which we enjoyed an excellent braised beef in Barolo and a veal tip with fondue of formaggetta Roccaverano. All washed down with the excellent wines of the Alto Monferrato, and followed by a very colourful buffet of desserts. After a healthy sleep in the silent rooms of the hotel, and after an abundant buffet breakfast, on Sunday morning we were charged with adrenaline and could not wait to get into the fabulous jeeps we had seen in the photographs.

All of us, women of the group included, are "on the road" types, and the idea of trying our hand at the wheel of a car that could give us emotions similar to those of a rally, but without risking, excited us enormously. After the bureaucratic formalities they assigned us the jeeps and gave us a briefing on their use. An hour later, the big moment: we set off! Our "caravan" was preceded by a jeep of the organisation, and we covered the first kilometres on comfortable roads between gentle hills and villages on panoramic ridges. After crossing the centre of Acqui, we took the road to reach the renowned Marenco wineries, where we made a stop for a wine tasting with a rich buffet. Before setting off again, we also bought some bottles, offered to us at a special price.

The most adventurous part of the trip was the afternoon one: a real full immersion in the unspoilt nature of hills and woods, on country roads at times demanding but manageable by everyone, through almost uninhabited areas. Some of us, the most daring, even threw themselves into some particularly technical route, on hair-raising steep roads. We returned home enriched by a truly unique experience, and besides having relaxed and had fun, we also found new friends among our adventure companions: it was a truly successful weekend, which we will repeat soon.

Francesca Bertha

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